DLS Instruction Manual v2.07
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DLSInstruction Manual
v2.07
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction 1
Thank You 1
Safety 2
General Safety 2
General Operation 2
Safety Standards 3
Electrical Hazards and Safety 3
Fire Hazards and Safety 4
Compliance 5
Laser Setup 6
Maintenance 6
What’s Included 8
Quick Setup Guide 9
Expanded Setup Guide 11
Chiller Setup 11
Air Compressor Setup 12
Exhaust Setup 13
Electrical Setup 13
Software Setup 14
Preparing for First Use 15
Confirming Laser Optics Alignment 16
Adjusting Bed Height 16
Focusing the Laser 17
Adjusting Belt Tension 18
Expanded Maintenance 20
Adjusting Laser Alignment 20
Lens Replacement or Cleaning 22
Replacing the Laser Tube 23
Troubleshooting 25
Expanded Software Setup 27
Concepts of Operation 28
Vector vs. Raster Graphics 30
Tutorial #1: Your First Cut! 31
Tutorial #2: Engraving 39
Tutorial #3: Layers 41
Application Specific 44
Reference 50
Layer Panel 50
Cut Mode 51
Engrave Mode 52
Output, Doc, User and Test Tab 53
Transform Panel 54
Connection Panel 54
Transform Panel 55
File Menu 56
Edit Menu 57
Draw Menu 59
Config Menu 61
Process Menu 64
View and Help Menu 65
1
INTRODUCTION
Thank you for purchasing the DLS Desktop Laser System. In order to make the operation of the DLS assafe as possible and to ensure that you get the best quality output, reading the manual is critical. It isimportant that every DLS operator read the manual thoroughly before use.
Please take special note for areas designated by the special icons below.
: Special attention must be paid to this FIRE ICON which indicates special fire risks andother dangers to your health, home and livelihood while operating the laser.
: Special attention must be paid to sections with this WARNING ICON to prevent damageto the laser or other associated systems.
: Areas denoted with this icon will contain special tips and tricks that will save you time.
2
SAFETY
SAFETY IS ALWAYS OUR #1 PRIORITY
The DLS (Desktop Laser System) uses a CO2 laser to cut and engrave materials. It operates on a 10.6micron wavelength which is invisible to the naked eye and is in the infrared end of the spectrum. Thebright point of light during cutting and engraving operations is plasma from the material being cut. Thereis a safety interlock on the main door which prevents laser operation when open. There is always a risk offire due to improper use or improper materials being cut. There is a visible red laser dot which helps withalignment and is accessible to the user during normal operation which gives the DLS an overall Class IIlaser safety rating. The visible red laser dot is the same type of diode laser used in handheld laserpointers so the same precautions used with a laser pointer should also be used when the primary door isopen. With any panels left open, the DLS should be considered a Class IV laser and any safetyprecautions for Class IV lasers should be used at that time.
GENERAL OPERATION
DO NOT operate or allow the operation of the machine by anyone that has not thoroughly readthis manual.
DO NOT operate the machine while unattended. The DLS is a computer controlled machine thatwill cut or engrave materials without user intervention once started, however, under nocircumstances is the machine to be left unattended during operation. There is significant risk offire if the machine is set improperly, the air assist AND/OR exhaust fan are off or the incorrecttypes of materials are used.
DO NOT modify, remove, defeat or otherwise circumvent any systems of this device includingremoving doors, panels, keyed locks and electronic safety interlocks.
DO NOT cut or engrave any material containing PVC or vinyl including ( ‘sign vinyl’ for makingstickers). When cut or engraved, vinyl and other chlorine/chloride containing materials will releasea corrosive gas that is extremely dangerous to the health of people in the area or animals and willdamage the DLS. Your warranty will be void if the machine is damaged from cutting vinyl, PVC orother chlorine containing materials.
DO NOT cut or engrave styrene based products INCLUDING styrene foam board (aka foaminsulation), this will cause a fire.
DO NOT cut or engrave any material of unknown composition. Materials can give off poisonous,corrosive or other harmful fumes when cut and engraved. ALWAYS refer to the MSDS sheetsprovided by the manufacturer of the material to be certain the cutting or engraving of materialswith extreme heat will not release harmful fumes AND/OR be a fire hazard.
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DO NOT look into the red laser alignment beam.
DO NOT operate the DLS if any mirrors or the focusing lens are not in place or are not alignedproperly.
ALWAYS ensure the AIR COMPRESSOR (air assist) and EXHAUST are working properly and are ONduring operation.
Operation of the laser by performing procedures, modifications, adjustments orotherwise not specified in this manual may result in hazardous infrared laserexposure.
The reference standard for laser safety is the ‘ American Standard for the Safe Use of Lasers, Z136.1-2000 ‘ developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). This reference is used for Federalregulations for the safe use by laser system manufacturers and lasers and by the Occupational Safety andHealth Administration (OSHA) for its laser safety guidelines in the work place. The recommendations ofby ANSI may be compulsory in regards to warning signage, training and the assignment of a ‘ LaserSafety Officer ‘ under your local workplace regulations. It is the laser operator’s responsibility that thelaser is installed and operated in accordance with all local, state and federal laws.
Please see below for more information:
ANSI z136.1-2000 https://www.lia.org/PDF/Z136_1_s.pdf
OSHA https://www.osha.gov/dts/osta/otm/otm_iii/otm_iii_6.html
Electrical Hazards and Safety
The laser, air compressor, exhaust fan and chiller all require 110-120v A/C power which can potentiallycause death if any wiring, terminals or connections are touched while plugged in.
DO NOT open the right side panel containing the electronics or rear panel containing the CO2 lasertube at any time while plugged in and for 1 hour after the unit has been unplugged. The CO2 laseruses a 20,000 volt power supply which can store residual charge in the discharge terminals of thelaser and through wiring of the laser to the power supply.
DO NOT connect or disconnect any electrical connections while the machine is on.
DO NOT operate the laser and contact us immediately if at any time, the bare wiring is exposedwithin the laser tube compartment.
4
Fire Hazards and Safety
A fire extinguisher is provided with every unit. This fire extinguisher is to be mounted with10ft of the unit at all times. If at any time the extinguisher is discharged it is the responsibilityof the operator to either have the extinguisher recharged by a licensed professional or replaceit with a new extinguisher before continued operation of the laser.
Laser cutting/engraving processes are at significant risk of a fire hazard due to the extreme heatgenerated by the infrared CO2 laser. The majority of material is vaporized by the intense heat of thelaser. However by their nature, materials that can be cut and engraved are also generally capable ofbeing burned and can ignite easily if precautions are not followed. Generally, even with the air assist andexhaust non-operational, the laser will generate a small flame that will extinguish itself if the laser isturned off, however it is possible for the flame to spread along the material which will damage themachine and spread to the surrounding area.
Ensuring the AIR COMPRESSOR (air assist) and EXHAUST are operational and on during ALL operations ofthe laser is critical to the safety of the operator, the machine and the surrounding area.
Vector cutting operations are at the most risk for generating a flame especially when cutting acrylicmaterials. Stacking materials (especially paper, wood products and other organic materials) have anincreased risk of ignition. We do not recommend stacking materials at any time.
DO NOT leave the machine unattended during operation.
DO NOT store combustible materials, combustible liquids, explosives or cleaning products within50 feet of the laser.
ALWAYS confirm the AIR COMPRESSOR and EXHAUST are working properly and are ON during alloperations. This includes ensuring there are no kinks or other obstructions in the air lines orexhaust hoses.
ALWAYS ensure the included fire extinguisher is within 10ft of the laser at all times.
ALWAYS monitor the machine during operation.
ALWAYS ensure the laser is clean before operation. Pieces of material and particulates left in themachine are a source of ignition and are a fire hazard. Remove all left over materials from thecutting operation after each use.
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COMPLIANCE
The Voccell DLS is a Class II laser product during normal operation as defined by International StandardIEC60825-1 . If the operator chooses to leave the locked panels open during operation, the Voccell DLSshould be treated as a Class IV laser with all safety precautions associated with a Class IV rating takingplace.
The Voccell DLS complies with 21 CFR 1040.10 and 1040.11 of the Federal Performance Standards forLight-Emitting Products, except for deviations pursuant to Laser Notice Number 50, dated July 16, 2001.
The warning labels applied to the Voccell DLS or as follows and are in accordance with 21 CFR 1040 andIEC 60825-1:
6
LASER SETUP
Congratulations on your purchase! Now that you have completed reading the safety precautions, its timeto get the laser and the associated components out of the crate.
The only thing you will need to purchase before turning on the laser for the first time is 4 gallons ofdistilled water. You will not need all 4 gallons initially but it is always a good idea to have some extra fortopping off the water level in the chiller if needed.
MAINTENANCE
In order to ensure the long life and high quality output of your DLS, regularmaintenance IS REQUIRED.
Before EVERY USE:
Clean the inside of laser so that no particulates or laser cut pieces are present as a fire hazard.
Every 8 House of Use:
Visually check to ensure water level is adequate in chiller and that the silicone tubes are not kinked.
Visually check mirrors and focusing lens to ensure no contaminants or obstructions are present and cleanas required. See ‘ Expanded Maintenance ‘ for more information.
Verify exhaust system is operating as expected.
Verify air compressor is outputting air properly and the silicone tubing is not kinked.
Monthly:
Drain distilled water from chiller and refill with fresh DISTILLED WATER. Using anything other thanDISTILLED WATER will void your warranty. See ‘ Expanded Maintenance ‘ for more information.
Wipe linear rails with small amount of grease on your finger. It is important to use a lubricating grease,WD-40 is not a lubricant. See ‘ Expanded Maintenance ‘ for more information.
Yearly
Replace focusing lens. See ‘ Expanded Maintenance ‘ for more information.
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Thoroughly inspect and clean mirrors. Replace if necessary. See ‘ Expanded Maintenance ‘ for moreinformation.
With power disconnected wipe inside work area with microfiber cloth and isopropyl alcohol until all surfacesare clean. Do not clean the plastic viewing window in the main door with alcohol, a damp microfiber towelis all that is required. Thoroughly re-grease linear rails. Allow alcohol to evaporate before turning laser on.
After allowing laser to be unplugged for 1 hour, open the right side panel to access the electronics andused compressed air to blow out any dust or debris. Repeat process in rear laser tube area.
Disconnect the exhaust fan hosing and clean exhaust inlet and outlet and clear any obstructions.
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WHAT’S INCLUDED
Safety and Instruction Manual
DLS Laser Cutter/Engraver
Chiller
Exhaust Fan
Air Compressor
2x Power Cables (for Chiller and Laser)
Fire Extinguisher
Laser Safety Goggles
Accessory Box
2x Keys
1x Replacement Mirror
1x Replacement Focusing Lens
1x Lens Cleaning Swabs
1x Engraving Gauge
1x 1/8” Cutting Gauge
1x 3/16” Cutting Gauge
1x ¼” Cutting Gauge
1x 5/16” Cutting Gauge
1x Funnel
1x USB Flash Drive
9
QUICK SETUP GUIDE
Special Note: The exhaust fan is the most important part of the laser system. The laser vaporizes whichcreates large amounts of smoke. For your own health and safety as well as the long life of the DLS,smoke must be exhausted outside area. Venting the exhaust, outside, away from people is the best wayto vent the laser.
Materials
Your DLS uses intense heat to vaporize materials. Some materials work very well for laser cuttingand others do not. It is important to note that even after checking the MSDS for hazardous materials,some materials may not lend themselves well to cutting or engraving. As a reminder, PVC and Vinylrelease chlorine gas that is toxic and corrosive, do not cut PVC or Vinyl. Please see the materials sectionof our website for more information. Always check the MSDS before cutting any material to ensure it issafe.
Step 1 : Get assistance in remove the the laser from the crate. Remove all accessories including theexhaust, air compressor and chiller from their boxes.
Step 2 : Place laser on a nice sturdy desk or work surface at least 30” in depth. Place the chiller next tothe work surface and find a suitable mounting location for the air compressor and exhaust fan.
Step 3 : Carefully cut off the 3 zip ties that are located on the X and Y belts inside the laser. These areinstalled to prevent movement and damage of the laser carriage during transport.
Step 4 : Using the supplied silicone tubing push onto the barbed Water Outlet of the chiller to the barbedWater Inlet of the DLS and secure with a hose clamp. Connect the barbed Water Inlet of the chiller to thebarbed Water Outlet of the DLS and secure with a hose clamp. These silicone tubing can be easily cutwith scissors if the lengths need to be adjusted. Make certain there are no kinks in the lines.
See Below For Expanded Information
Step 5 : Remove the cap on top of the chiller. Using the supplied funnel, fill the chiller with DISTILLEDwater until the water fill gauge on the back of the chiller reads in the green section. Overfilling or underfilling the chiller can damage the unit. Plug the chiller in and turn on. Water should begin flowing throughtubing and into the laser tube. Open the back panel to access the laser tube and you should see bubblesflowing through the laser tube. Leave the chiller plugged in and on for at least 10 minutes.Inspect the water connections to ensure there are no leaks. You may proceed to the next stepswhile the water is circulating.
Step 6 : Using the supplied silicone tubing, connect the outlet of the air compressor to the Air Inlet on theDLS. Ensure that there are no kinks in the lines.
See Below for Expanded Information
Step 7 : Bolt the exhaust flange to the 4” opening on the side of the laser. Connect the 4” exhaust tubingfrom the DLS to the inlet on the Exhaust system and secure with the supplied hose clamps. Connect theother 4” exhaust tubing to the outlet of the Exhaust system and route to a window or wall penetration.
See Below for Expanded Information
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Step 8 : Secure the Exhaust system and air compressor to the work surface or wall with the suppliedscrews. If air compressor or Exhaust system are not secured they may ‘walk’ due to vibrations.
Step 9 : Install the software and the drivers included on the USB flash drive by just copying the wholedirectory to the desired location.
Step 10 : Use the included key to open the right side door to the electronics in the laser and route theUSB cable outside of the laser and connect to computer. See Below for Expanded Information
Step 11 : It helps to have assistance on this tep. Have one person open the rear hatch to expose thelaser tube. The interior passageways of the tube should be mostly free from bubbles if the chiller hasbeen running for the required 10 minutes. The second person should lift the left side of the DLS up off thetable a few inches. This should allow any trapped bubbles within the tube to be removed. Inspect thetube to ensure it is BUBBLE FREE. If not, repeat Step 11 until bubble free. Water bubbles within thetube will cause hot spots, drastically shortening the life of the tube. If you cannot remove all the bubblesdrain the water and try again. If you are unable to remove all the bubbles from the tube, please contactsupport.
Step 12 : Plug the male ends of the power plugs on the laser, chiller, exhaust and air compressor into thesupplied surge bar making sure the laser itself is plugged into the outlet with the green box surrounding it.Determine that the switch on the surge bar is off and plug it into the wall outlet. Ensure the switch on thechiller is set to the off position and the red Emergency Stop / Power Button on the laser is pushed in.Turn on the surge bar switch. This should cause the air compressor and exhaust fan to turn on. Turn onthe chiller by pressing the toggle switch into the up position. The ambient temperature in Celcius shouldbe displayed in the LCD readout on the chiller. Finally turn on the DLS itself by rotating the redEmergency Stop / Power Button which should disengage from its locked position and turn on the machine.See Below for Expanded Information
Step 13 : Please find a place to store the packaging for the laser. If the laser requires a return to us forany reason like a warranty repair, the original crate/packaging is REQUIRED.
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EXPANDED SETUP GUIDE
Chiller Setup
The DLS uses a phase change chiller to pump cooler than ambient temperature water through the CO2laser tube to keep it cool. This system is superior to regular water pumps in that the laser tube will not beaffected by ambient temperatures nor will it pause or shut down while being used as the tube heats up thewater. Additionally the cold temperatures drastically improve laser tube life and increase output.
DO NOT use the laser for cutting or engraving without the chiller being connected and on.Use of the laser with the chiller disconnected or off will cause damage to the laser tubeand will void the warranty.
Remove the cap on top of the chiller and with the supplied funnel, fill the chiller with DISTILLED wateruntil the water fill line gauge located on the backside of the unit indicates the green area. Use of any typeof water other than DISTILLED will cause internal corrosion to the chiller unit which will VOID theWARRANTY. Do not overfill the chiller or underfill it, the water level must be in the green zone.
Connect the ‘Water Out’ from the chiller to the ‘Water In’ on the laser with the supplied silicone tubing.Connect the ‘Water In’ from the chiller to the ‘Water Out’ on the laser with the same supplied siliconetubing. Adjustments to length of the tubing can be made with scissors. Ensure that no kinks are presentOR possible with the silicone tubing. Connect the included signal cable from the 3 pin Alarm Outlet on thechiller to the SIGNAL port on the side of the laser directly above the water and air lines.
Verify the laser is unplugged. Plug in the chiller and turn it on. Inspect the connections for any leaks onthe chiller IN/OUT ports, the laser IN/OUT ports and the laser tube IN/OUT ports (located underneath therear panel at the back of the laser).
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Allow the chiller to run for at least 10 minutes. At this time if you look into thelaser tube water passageways you should see small bubbles being purged fromthe system. After 10 minutes have elapsed, seek the assistance of anotherperson. One person should have the lid open to the rear of the laser, continuallyinspecting the laser tube water passageways for trapped bubbles. The secondperson should lift up the left side of the laser a few inches to release any trapped
bubbles. If any bubbles are still present, repeat this step until they are all eliminated. Bubblesin the water will cause hot spots in the laser tube which will drastically shorten its life. Pleasepay special attention for bubbles in the highlighted areas with the green boxes below on theright side of the tube, looking from the back of the laser.
Air Compressor Setup
Connect the ‘Air In’ located on the right side of the laser to the air compressor output barb using thesupplied silicone tubing. Plug the air compressor in once the tubing is connected. Raise the main lid ofthe laser and you should hear and be able to feel compressed air below the laser output nozzle. The aircompressor requires mounting to the work surface or a nearby wall using the supplied screws. Bymounting the compressor will drastically reduce the noise generated and prevent it from ‘walking along asurface, potentially kinking the silicone tubing.
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Exhaust Setup
Use the 4 bolts on the left side of the laser to attach the steel exhaust flange. Use the supplied 4” ductingand hose clamps to attach the exhaust flange on the laser to the inlet on the exhaust fan. Attach theother 4” duct to the outlet from the exhaust fan and route the ducting out a window or wall penetration.Seal the ducting at the window or wall penetration so no fumes can re-enter the work area.
Electrical Setup
The DLS is setup for use with 110-120V electrical outlets. The electrical cord for the DLS and thechiller are included in the container with the other accessories. The exhaust and air compressor haveintegral plugs. The DLS draws the least amount of power, while the chiller draws the most. The DLS,chiller, exhaust and compressor are designed to be plugged into a single unused 15A circuit with theincluded surge protector.
One of the plugs nearest the cord on the surge protector has a green box around its perimeter. Pleaseplug the DLS into this receptacle and the rest of the accessories in to the remaining receptacles.
DO NOT plug any other devices into this surge bar as the electrical load will cause the circuitbreaker to be tripped on the surge bar or at the electrical panel of the circuit that the DLS + accessoriesare plugged into.
The power to the laser is controlled by the single, large red button located onthe front panel. It is an emergency STOP button; when pressed it will cutpower to all systems of the laser. To turn on, simply twist the button to theright and it will pop out into the normal ‘on’ position.
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Computer Setup
For a more comprehensive setup guide, please see ‘ Expanded Software Setup ‘ .
The software has been tested with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows10. Additionally we have users that have reported no issues running the software on a ‘virtual windows’program on their Mac computers. The software does not require a fast computer to operate correctly. Thefollowing are minimum system specifications.
Intel Core or AMD Athlon II CPU
4GB RAM
Very large vector graphics files will refresh faster with a dedicated graphics card and/or more RAM.
Before connecting the DLS to your computer, please ensure that you install the software and the driversfor the DLS before plugging it in via USB. Run the setup program and follow the on screen prompts.
With the DLS unplugged, open the right side, keyed panel of the laser. Inside is the USB cord connectedto the laser controller board. There is a square cutout in the side of the DLS’s case. Run the USB cablethrough that cutout and plug in to an available USB port on your computer.
The software can save programs to a USB flash drive to be used by the laser without a USB connection.
Please see the ‘ Expanded Software Setup ‘ section for more information.
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PREPARING FOR FIRST USE
99% of the time, any degradation in cut quality comes down to the following:
1. The laser is out of focus.
If the laser is out of focus and the correct focusing gauge was not used, the laser spot willbe larger than intended and will tend to char material instead of cutting it. Stop the program and adjustthe focus. See the Focusing section for the proper procedure.
2. The optical path is not aligned.
Generally speaking this is not an issue during normal use. However, if the operator placedan object into the work area and the laser head was set too low and there was a collision, this can affectthe optical path. Please see the Expanded Maintenance section of this manual for the optics alignmentprocedure.
3. The optical path is not clean.
The negative pressure exhaust system and air assist are designed to keep the interior of themachine and the optics as clean as possible. However, if there is a flare up due to the air compressorand/or exhaust not being on or for any other reason, immediately cease usage of the laser and refer tothe Expanded Maintenance section of this manual to clean the optics. Additionally if there are no issuesduring normal operation, it is always a good idea to visually check the optics every 8 hours of use andclean them as required.
4. The lens needs to be replaced.
The focusing lens can degrade in quality over time. This is caused by invisible micro-fractures within the lens caused by heat cycling. If the laser will operate as normal for 15-30 minutes andthen there is a large degradation in cut quality, this is the most likely cause. If the DLS is cleanedregularly and the exhaust and air compressor are always on during operation, the lens will generally lastfor 12 months.
Now that you are aware of what to look for, the next step is to verify that the laser maintained the factorycalibrated alignment during shipping and that it is working as intended.
5. The laser tube needs to be replaced.
The laser tube itself is a wear item. You will generally see 1 year of use out of a laser tube. Usingless than maximum power will dramatically increase its life span. If the above 4 common areas arechecked and OK, then the tube is usually the culprit. When energized the gases in the tube will glow apink/purple color. When the tube is nearing the end of its life it will typically be pure white in color.
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Confirming Laser Optics Alignment
There is a visible red dot laser (VRD) that is used along the same optical path as the CO2 laser. Itis rare that the VRD is not in perfect alignment with the CO2 laser after shipment. Turn on the DLSsystem by turning at the surge bar with the DLS and accessories plugged into it Place a small piece ofpaper below the laser head. You should see a small red laser dot, DIRECTLY below the nozzle. If this isthe case, congratulations you are halfway done!
After determining the chiller, exhaust and compressor are working properly, close the lid (IF THELID IS NOT CLOSED, the LASER WILL NOT FIRE) with the piece of paper still inside placed below thelaser head. Press Esc twice on the DLS control panel to ensure you are back to the main screen. Nowpress the ‘Pulse’ button on the laser keypad, DO NOT hold it down, just press it quickly. You should hearan electronic beep and if everything is setup correctly a small ‘snapping’ sound which is the laser tubebeing energized. You should see, a TINY dark spot on the paper positioned where the VRD is. The darkspot should be round and have nice diffuse edges. Congrats, your laser is aligned correctly.
If the laser does not fire, open and close the lid again to confirm the lid was closed snugly. Press the Escbutton a couple more times and repeat the last step.
If the dark spot is still not visible on the paper and you can hear the ‘snapping’ sound, then the most likelycase is that the mirrors are misaligned. Please see the Expanded Maintenance section, contact technicalsupport at [email protected] or give us a call (see http://www.voccell.com/contact ).
Adjusting the Bed Height
Use the included hand wheel crank to rotate the Z-axis screws by placing socket end of crank ontothe square peg (indicated by the green rectangle below). Turn the crank clockwise to raise the platformand counter clockwise to lower the platform.
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Focusing the Laser
There are several included focusing gauges in with the other accessories. The files to cut your ownreplacement gauges due to loss or damage are included on the USB flash drive. Each gauge has either ameasurement corresponding to the thickness of the material to be cut or ‘ Engraving ‘ for when anengraving is desired.
How to Focus for Engraving Only
Take the gauge marked ‘ Engraving ‘ and rest the bottom edge on the top surface of thematerial to be engraved. Use the hand wheel crank to adjust the bed height until the shoulder of the laserhead touches the bottom of the focusing gauge arm (as shown in the picture above). Confirm that thegauge is flush with the surface and not at an angle.
How to Focus for Cutting Only
Measure the thickness of the material to be cut. Select the gauge marked with thedimension closest to the thickness of the material. Rest the bottom edge of the gauge on the top surfaceof the material to be cut. Use the hand wheel to adjust the laser head until the shoulder of the laser headtouches the bottom of the focusing gauge arm. Make certain the gauge is flush with the surface and notat an angle.
SEE NEXT PAGE FOR CUTTING AND ENGRAVING AT THE SAME TIME
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How to Focus for both Cutting and Engraving on the Same Object
For general cutting and engraving use Procedure #1.
To achieve ultimate engraving quality with the smallest spot size and the best edge quality useProcedure #2. Please note that unless your engraving is very high resolution you probablywon’t notice a difference in quality between the two procedures.
Procedure #1
Measure thickness of material. Divide measurement by 2. Use corresponding focusgauge to focus lens, ie if the material is 1/4” thick, use the 1/8” focus guage. Setlayer order to perform engraving operations first then cutting second to makesure your material does not move or fall before its engraved. Press start and thelaser will automatically engrave, then cut without any intervention.
Procedure #2
Focus lens for engraving. Complete all engraving operations. Stop or pause the jobonce engraving is complete. Refocus lens for cutting the appropriate thickness ofmaterial. Perform all cutting operations.
Adjusting Belt Tension
Check belt tension by using your fingers to try and turn the bolts by hand. If you can turn them,then the belts are too loose. Proper tension is 1/2 turn clockwise past finger tight.
Over long periods of time, even the Kevlar impregnated belts that are used can stretch a smallamount. It is a good idea to periodically check belt tension by gently plucking the belts with your finger toconfirm they are tight. In the event that they need to be tightened, please follow the procedure below:
Y-Axis Belts
Unplug the DLS. Open the main door and fold down the front access door to the laser. On the leftand right side of the unit (right tensioner pictured below with tensioning bolt inside the green rectangle)will be a socket cap screw that controls the tension of the Y-axis belts. Turn the tension bolt clockwise totighten and counter clockwise to loosen.
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X-Axis Belts
Unplug the DLS. Open the keyed door on the left of the machine. The X-axis belt tensioner can betightened by turning the bolt (highlighted in green below) clockwise and can be loosed by turning the boltcounter clockwise.
In order to serve you better, Voccell asks that you utilize a digital camera or cell phone camera in order tosend us pictures or video so we can more accurately and quickly diagnose problems.
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EXPANDED MAINTENANCE
The following procedures may expose the user to dangerous situations. Laser beams that are significantlymisaligned could shoot outside the cabinet, exposing the operator or the surrounding area to intense heat.EXTREME CAUTION IS REQUIRED.
Adjusting the Laser Alignment
Make sure your laser safety glasses are on and the included fire extinguisher is nearby and fully charged.
There are three mirrors that redirect the CO2 laser beam into the focusing lens that focuses the beam to aspot size smaller than .1mm. Each mirror comes pre-calibrated from our factory, however it is possible intransit, or through use that adjustments may need to be made. It is important to never have the machineon when working around the laser tube.
The mirrors are very easily adjusted. Be very careful not to over-torque the screws as they are a finethread and made from brass. You must loosen the hex retaining nuts before the screws can be adjusted.Generally, only two of the three screws require any adjustment. The pictures below show each mirror andthe VRD and what direction the beam will move when the two primary adjustment screws are turned. Thethird screw allows a greater range of adjustment for the two primary screws and should not be movedfrom its position under normal circumstances.
Laser Head 2nd Mirror
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3rd Mirror (Closest to Laser Tube) VRD Adjustment
Use the VRD as a visual guide to adjust the laser beam path. Move the laser head to the lower rightcorner of the table and adjust the mirrors starting with the 2nd mirror which is easily accessible by openingthe left keyed panel. The 2nd mirror is usually the one that is knocked out of alignment. Place a piece ofmasking tape over the opening to the Laser Head. Adjust the 2nd mirror until the VRD is perfectlycentered over the opening to the Laser Head, now obscured with masking tape.
PLEASE EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION WITH THIS NEXT STEP.
With the lid closed quickly press the black ‘Pulse’ button on the keypad. DO NOT HOLD THE BUTTONDOWN. This should leave a burn mark on the masking tape. If you held the button down too long itcould ignite the masking tape! Do not ever fire on the same piece of masking tape more than once, it willignite.
If the burn mark is directly in the center of the opening like the VRD then alignment is complete.
If the burn mark is not directly in the center with the VRD then use the VRD adjustment screws to makethe VRD align with the center of the BURN MARK.
Adjust the appropriate mirrors until the VRD is in the center of the opening to the Laser Head again andtest fire as before.
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Lens Replacement or Cleaning
Step 1: Loosen both thumb screws indicated in the picture below.
Step 2: Unscrew the two knurled sections of the nozzle. If only a cleaning is necessary, use the includedcleaning wadding and isopropyl alcohol to clean BOTH sides of the lens. Some excess red dye from theanodizing may come off during cleaning, this is normal.
Step 3: Loosen the retaining ring with a pair of snap ring pliers or equivalent.
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Step 4: Remove silicone gasket and lens. When replacing the lens, ensure that the FLAT SIDE IS FACINGDOWN.
Replacing the Laser Tube
UNPLUG THE MACHINE AND WAIT 1 HOUR BEFORE CHANGING THE TUBE.
Step 1: Carefully remove the water line and alligator clip on cathode of laser tube as indicated in thepicture below.
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Step 2: Carefully remove the water line and push fit connection on the anode side of the laser tube asindicated in the picture below.
Step 3: Remove the two clamps holding the tube in place as indicated in the picture below.
Step 4: Gently remove the laser tube from the enclosure. Clean up any spilled water. Installation is thereverse of the above steps. Check to make sure the water lines are facing up during reinstallation so thebubbles from the chiller escape more easily.
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TROUBLESHOOTING
PROBLEM POSSIBLE CAUSE SOLUTION
Power cable unplugged Plug in power cable and verify surge barpower LED is lit.
USB cable unplugged
Plug in USB cable to computer. Openelectronics panel and confirm USB cableis plugged into Controller and the greenLED on the Power Supply is lit.
Laser Does Not Connect Laser is not turned on Verify that the red E-Stop button is notlocked by twisting to the right.
Loose electrical connectionsUnplug laser from surge bar. Openelectronics cabinet and verify allelectrical connections are tight.
If you are still unable to connect, pleasecontact support.
Main Door Interlock Not Engaged Open and then close the main door andensure it is seated snugly.
Chiller is Off Turn on chiller
Laser Does Not Fire Chiller is Low on Water Refill chiller to 'Green Zone' with distilledwater
Chiller Water Flow is BackwardsCheck silicone tubing connections toensure the Outlet goes to the Inlet andvice versa.
If the laser will still not fire, pleasecontact support.
Visible Red dot is off Loose Electrical ConnectionsWith laser unplugged, check electricalconnections at VRD emitter to ensurewires are snug
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Laser Head CrashesDuring Job Air Line Obstructing Path
Loosen thumb screws holding lasernozzle to laser head and rotate left untilair lines allow sufficient clearance.
Laser does not cutthrough material
Laser is Out of Focus Please see ' Focusing the Laser ' section
Laser is Out of Optical Alignment Please see ' Confirming Laser OpticsAlignment ' Section
Engraving has JaggedLines Step Over Set Too Low Change step setting. ' .1 ' is a good start '
.05 ' is better.
Laser Head Does NotMove Motor Wires Disconnected
With laser unplugged, check motor wireson Controller card to ensure they aresnug
Vector Cut Lines AreJagged
Loose Laser Head Tighten thumbscrews on laser head toensure they are snug
Loose Belts Please see ' Adjusting Belt Tension 'section.
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EXPANDED SOFTWARE SETUP
Thank you for your purchase of the Voccell DLS. This manual will guide you through the setup and basicoperations of the software for your DLS and provide 3 tutorials to get you up and running as quickly aspossible. All the drivers, software, manuals and sample files are included on the USB flash drive.
Installation of Drivers, Software
Insert the USB Flash Drive
This flash drive includes all the drivers, software, manuals and tutorial files for the DLS.
Copy the VLaser directory to the C:\ drive of your Windows PC. No installation is required.
Plug the USB cable into an available USB port on your computer and Windows should connect to WindowsUpdate and download the Virtual COM Port drivers for the FT245R USB chip on the laser’s motherboardautomatically. This may take a few minutes. Once the automatic download and installation are completeyou should receive a confirmation message from Windows that the device was installed.
If you receive an error, the drivers for the device are located in the ‘ Drivers ‘ directory on the includedflash drive and can be manually installed by opening CDM21218_Setup.exe.
Open the VLaser software by double clicking on the VLaser.exe icon. Once opened, you should see thescreen as below:
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CONCEPTS OF OPERATION
The DLS can be used almost immediately after the following section. For most users, the basic operationsare all that will ever be needed. The DLS uses basic concepts of operation that are required to operatethe laser and get the quality of output desired.
At a basic level the laser works off two different parameters in order to cut or engrave materials, speedand power. ‘Speed’ is the speed in millimeters at which the laser head moves while performing cutting orengraving operations. ‘Power’ is the power level of the laser tube expressed as a percentage of maximumpower ie ‘50’ would be 50% of the total power output of the laser tube. Speed and Power are directlyrelated as the slower you go, the less power is required to cut through or engrave the material to thesame depth. The inverse is also true; the higher the speed, the more power will be required to cutthrough or engrave a material to a given depth.
PLEASE NOTE THAT USING POWER LEVELS BELOW 90% WILL DRASTICALLY INCREASE THE LIFE OF THELASER TUBE. Cutting at 90% power and moving just 10% slower will extend the life of the tube overcutting at 100% power a little faster.
The laser cuts by vaporizing the material in the work area via extreme heat. This heat is generated by thelaser tube itself and is concentrated by the focusing lens. If the focusing lens is not present or is adjustedso it is out of focus, the heat will be spread over a larger area which will cause burning instead ofvaporizing. It is critical to ensure the correct focusing distance is set for a given material thickness withthe included focusing gauges.
Please refer to the included materials chart for suggested speeds and power settings for various materials.Different speeds and power levels may be required for your given material as different manufacturers orproduction processes will impact the best speed and power setting. We recommend testingcutting/engraving a small piece of material to confirm the best speed and power level before committingto a larger piece.
TIPS & TRICKS
Check the MSDS for every material before cutting to ensure that it doesn’t contain any harmful emissionswhen heated.
Do not cut vinyl, PVC or styrene foam under any circumstances.
Always double check that the air compressor and exhaust fan are on PRIOR to starting a cutting orengraving operation.
If the laser is not cutting or engraving as expected, please refer to the Troubleshooting Guide.
Always try a sample cut or engraving for a new material and make note of the best speed and power forthat material.
If a cut operation did not cut all the way through or an engraving operation is not deep enough, you canjust press Start and run the same job over again on top of the existing cuts or engraving areas so youdon’t waste material.
Interior grade plywood that uses a PVA based glue will cut much better than an exterior grade plywood.
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Carbon (ie charred wood) reflects laser light. Products that have more glue in them tend to carbonize theedges more than products with less glue. Interior plywood will cut better than MDF due to the gluecontent.
Cutting in a single pass will almost always result in a better cut edge quality. It also produces lessparticulates in the air and ‘char’ that sticks on the top surface of a workpiece.
The ‘char’ that will be on the top surfaces of wood based products when cut or engraved can be wiped offevery easily with a damp microfiber cloth, no solvents or other cleaning products are required.
There are two different kinds of acrylic, extruded and cast. Extruded is less expensive and more easilybroken than cast. When engraving, extruded acrylic will stay the same color where it’s engraved, ie if itsblack acrylic, your engraving will be black. Cast acrylic on the other hand shows up as white where it isengraved regardless of color.
Cutting acrylic slower than required will make the edge more polished looking at the expense of a slightlywider kerf.
Not all materials are created equal. Plywood from one manufacturer may cut better than anothermanufacturer even though they look exactly the same.
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VECTOR vs. RASTER GRAPHICS
Differences Between Raster and Vector Graphics and Their Uses
Raster graphics are created in programs like Photoshop, GIMP and MSPAINT and are comprised of pixels.Rasters are used by the laser to specify engraving areas. Black areas are engraved and white areas areaignored.
In order to create the highest quality engraving, a black and white (1-bit) image will create the bestoutput. The software will automatically convert greyscale and color images into black and white imagesfor engraving, however it may not have exactly the results that you intend. In order to achieve the mostaccurate results, convert your images to black and white in your preferred image editor prior to importing.
For maximum quality, the images must be saved at 1000 DPI (dots per inch). For example a 4000x4000pixel image will show up as a 4” x 4” drawing in the laser software when imported. Most images found onthe internet are not nearly this high of a resolution and are 72 DPI. The lower the DPI of an image themore pixelated the image will look. Most computer monitors are approximately 72 DPI and so it may lookOK on your screen but will not look high quality when printed or laser engraved. When importing a 72 DPIimage into the laser it will often be very small and will need to be scaled up in size in order to achieve theoverall size you want.
Please see the Application Specific section for a walk through of best practices using aparticular piece of software.
Vector graphics are created in programs like Illustrator, Inkscape, AutoCAD and Sketchup and arecomprised of lines and curves. Vector graphics do not lose quality when scaled up or down in size. Vectorgraphics are used to define cutting lines or curves on the laser. The laser head will follow the line or curveon center in order to make a cutting pass. You can also intentionally lower the power so the laser doesnot cut through all the way to create a vector engraving. Vector engraving will result in slightly higherquality over raster engraving if the image to be engraved has very thin lines.
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TUTORIAL #1 : YOUR FIRST CUT!
Skills learned from this tutorial:
How to import a vector file
How to position, scale and rotate the vector
How to set speed and power for the vector
Is your exhaust fan on?
Is your air compressor on?
Is the chiller on?
Have some test material handy. Paper, cardboard, thin wood etc. will work fine for this tutorial.
Insert the included flash drive. Open the software.
Navigate to the File Menu and click ‘ Import ‘
Select the tutorial.dxf file on the flash drive and double click on it to open it.
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Congratulations, you have imported your first vector object! Your screen should look as below.
The star as displayed is a bit too big for this tutorial. The star should be highlighted in blue to show it isselected. Go ahead and click off of the star which should turn it black and the click again on one of thestar’s lines to reselect it, which should turn it blue again.
Let’s go ahead and scale the star into a more manageable size by changing the size.
Change the values that currently say 369.709 to 100 and 351.742 to 100. This will change the star to anice manageable size of 100mm x 100mm. With the object selected, you can also use one of the 8 black
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square drag handles to resize if precision is not required. You can drag the object around the work areaby clicking and holding on the blue X at the center of the shape and dragging it around. With the star stillselected, click the ‘ Rotate ‘ icon as shown below.
A ‘ Rotate ‘ window will pop up. Input 30 degrees into the Rotate Angle box and click OK. The starshould have rotated 30 degrees counter clockwise. To rotate clockwise, input a negative number like -30to rotate 30 degrees clockwise. If you do not input a number in the Rotate Angle field and click OK youcan rotate an arbitrary amount by clicking and dragging if precision is not required.
Now with the basics completed we will walk you through specifying the cutting power and speed as well asconnecting to the laser, downloading the file to the laser and performing your first cut.
Click back on the Selection Tool as shown below.
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Click anywhere on the work table away from the graphic to deselect it. When deselected, the star linecolor should be black and there will be a corresponding black layer color in the upper right corner of thescreen. Each layer color can have its own cutting or engraving settings.
Go ahead and double click on the black layer to bring up the ‘ Laser Parameters ‘ window. This window isused to specify what type of cut or engraving you are doing as well as what speed and power level youspecify.
Make sure that ‘ Cut ‘ is selected in the ‘ Mode ‘ drop down menu and input the speed, minimum powerand maximum power based on the supplied Speed/Power chart and the type of material you will do yourfirst test with. You can ignore all other settings at this time.
Focus the laser by following the instructions in the ‘Focusing’ section earlier in this manual and ensurethe gauge used is the correct one for the material thickness you are testing with.
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Ensure that the AIR COMPRESSOR, EXHAUST FAN andCHILLER are all on and operating correctly.Put your hand near the nozzle of the laser head. You should feel a significant amount of air coming out ofthe nozzle. The closest approximation would be the amount of air exiting your mouth when whistling; itshould be sufficient to blow away small pieces of paper and you should be able to clearly hear it whenstanding at the front of the laser. If the air does not feel sufficient, you may have a kinked air line. Tracethe air line back from the nozzle and wiggle it around any pinch points (zip ties) to see if it increases theflow.
Before we can start the cutting operation we have to position the material within the workspace. Thelaser can either use absolute positioning or relative positioning that we call Virtual Home. The VirtualHome location is set by pressing the Origin button on the laser key pad. Once this position is set, it willnot change until the Origin button is pressed again. To use absolute positioning you must check theAbsolute Coordinates box in the Config->System Settings Window.
Origin Button on Keypad Absolute Coordinates
Absolute Positioning means that the laser defines its home position, where it starts the cutting orengraving operation from the upper right corner of the ENTIRE build area (where the mechanical homeposition of the laser is located). So for example with this tutorial, the star is located in the center of thebuild area and thus with absolute positioning, the laser head will travel to the center of the build area andbegin cutting out the shape. If you were to insert material the size of the whole build area and begin acutting operation, it would cut the star out of the CENTER of the material, which in many cases iswasteful.
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Virtual Home means that the laser defines its home position as the green square (as indicated by the largeblack arrow in the picture below) at the upper right corner of the extents of your object AND the laserhead’s Virtual Home position set by pressing the Origin button.
The laser will begin the cutting or engraving operation from the Virtual Home position even if the laserhead is moved around or other changes are made. This is very useful for quick setup. Place a piece ofmaterial inside so the upper right corner of the material is underneath the laser head, press the Originbutton and begin the cutting or engraving operation. No other setup is required.
You must be aware that if you use the Origin button, the laser head must have enough room toperform the requested operation. If you want to cut an 8” diameter object and the laser headis currently only 6” from the bottom of the cutting area for example, then it will give you aFrame Slop error message on the keypad; do not press Enter to continue or you may damagethe laser. Press Esc on the keypad two times to clear the error. Reposition the laser head,press the Origin button again to define the Virtual Home position and try again.
Use the arrow keys on the DLS keypad to move the laser head around manually. Set the Virtual Homeposition. Place your material so the upper right corner of it is beneath the laser head. At this time youshould see the visible red dot from the laser head on your selected material.
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Click the ‘ Download ‘ button.
Click the ‘ Download ‘ button. If you have not saved your work yet, it will ask you to input a file name. Ifyou have saved your work it will begin processing and downloading to the laser under the name specifiedwhen you saved your file.
Please note that if you have multiple versions of a file like ‘ star1 ‘ , ‘ star2 ‘ etc. they will be saved asdifferent programs on the laser’s internal memory. If the same file name is downloaded to the internalmemory it will ask if you would like to overwrite the previous one.
You can access all the files on the internal memory of the laser by going to the ‘ Doc ‘ tab as shown below.You must click the ‘ Read ‘ button to view the current files stored in the laser’s memory.
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If the internal memory becomes full, pressing the ‘ Delete ‘ button will delete the selected file and the ’Delete All ‘ will delete all files on the internal memory.
This file download may be essentially instantaneous but be aware that very large or complex files maytake some time for the laser to process and to download. Once the download is complete, the file nameshould be displayed in the Doc tab and the laser will make a confirmation beep.
Make sure the lid is closed and press the green start button on the DLS keypad and the laser will begin thecutting operation immediately.
If the directions were followed correctly, you should have a star that was cut out from the material youselected. Congratulations!
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TUTORIAL #2: ENGRAVING
Skills learned from this tutorial:
How to engrave a vector image
How to engrave a raster image
Make a new document. Import the tutorial.dxf file, like last time and scale it again to 100x100 mm .Open the ‘ Laser Parameters ‘ menu by double clicking on the black layer. This time, select the Engraveoption from the Mode drop down menu and input the Speed, Min Power and Max power settingsappropriate for the material you are using.
Change the Scan Gap to ‘ .1 ‘ … That is POINT 1 or 1/10 of a Millimeter.
The laser head traces back and forth in the X direction to engrave materials. Every back and forth motionin the X direction then moves in the Y direction a small amount defined by the ‘ Scan Gap ‘ in millimeters.A setting of .1mm is a good starting point to a high quality engraving. Settings larger than .1mm mayhave a ‘stair stepping’ look to them like aliasing in an 8-bit video game. Settings lower than .1mm willproduce better quality engravings at the expense of total engraving duration. Most people cannot tell adifference by naked eye beyond .05mm even though the laser is capable of much finer resolution.
The DLS uses very high precision optics. If you are PERFECTLY in focus the laser spot size is SMALLERthan .1mm and thus will have a small gap between engraving lines if the Scan Gap is set to .1mm. If thishappens and you can either decrease the Scan Gap or adjust the Z axis of the laser slightly up or down sothe laser is not in PERFECT focus and thus makes the spot size slightly larger.
Position your material as before and confirm focus with the ENGRAVING GAUGE. Use of one ofthe CUTTING gauges for the thickness of material you have selected will result in a poor qualityengraving. Double check to ensure the air compressor, exhaust and chiller are on andfunctioning correctly.
Download the program to the laser using the ‘ Download ‘ button. Wait for the confirmation beep.
Close the lid and press the green button on the laser keypad and the engraving will start.
Congratulations on the success of your first engraving!
Delete the tutorial.dxf vector out of the workspace and import the star.bmp which is a raster graphic. Youshould now see a black star with a white background. The laser interprets the black areas as engravingareas and the white areas are ignored. Go through the same process as above to engrave this raster ontoa piece of sample material. The results should look identical to your vector engraving.
Congratulations on the success of your second engraving!
Delete the star.bmp and re-import the tutorial.dxf and scale it to 100x100 mm. Open the ‘ LaserParameters ‘ menu and change it to a cutting operation but this time set the Speed to 40, Min Power to 20and Max Power to 20. Insert something to be engraved that is thicker than a piece of paper like wood or
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acrylic. Download the program to the laser and press Start. The laser will trace the perimeter of the starshape but it won’t cut through the surface. You have just completed a line engraving, congrats!
So what happens if you import a raster image of the star that looked like the vector version (outline) anddid a regular engraving?
Create a new document. Import staroutline.bmp and switch the ‘ Laser Parameters ‘ to engraving and seefor yourself. Compare the quality of the output of the thin lines and note the duration of the wholeprocess.
For certain types of graphics, a line engraving (cut path that doesn’t cut all the way through) is a muchfaster and generally better looking process for thin lines. You could decrease the Scan Gap to improve theresolution of the line so it would look similar to the line engraving but it would take a lot longer to process.
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TUTORIAL #3: LAYERS
Skills learned from this tutorial:
Using Multiple Layers
Cutting and Engraving at the Same Time
Create a new document. Import tutorial.dxf again. Scale to 100x100 mm . Import the tutorial.dxf againwithout creating a new document and scale it 50x50 mm. You should now have a star within a star. Clickon the smaller star to select it and then click on one of the colored squares at the bottom of the screen.Two things will happen at this point. A new layer will appear in the upper right corner of the screen that isthe same color as the one selected and if you click off the star to deselect it, it will now match the color ofthe selected layer. You now have the ability to control the two layers independently.
Set the black larger star layer to ‘ Cut ‘ and change the Speed, Min Power and Max Power levels to theappropriate amount for the material you will be using. Set the new colored layer of the smaller star toEngrave with the appropriate Speed and Power levels.
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Take a look at the layer panel in the upper right corner and you will notice that the black layer is first fromtop to bottom. This will make the laser cut the star out of the material and then process the engraving.For maximum quality, always process the engraving passes first. In order to do this we need to changethe order that the cut and engraving layers are processed.
Select the first layer as shown in the above graphic and press the ‘ Down ‘ button. This will move theblack, cut layer down below the engraving layer.
SPECIAL NOTE *** You must click within the layer box BELOW the bottommost layer in the white area asindicated in the picture below by the red outlined box to DESELECT all the layers to lock in the new order.If you do not do this, the order that you just changed may not be saved when you download the programto the laser.
Download the program to the laser and you will be ready to complete the engraving/cutting.
Load your material and position it in the laser.
There are two different ways that you can choose to focus the laser for cutting and engraving operationswith pros and cons for each one.
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Best Quality: You will have to focus the laser twice. You will first focus for the engraving pass using theengraving focus gauge. Next you can do one of two things to focus for the cutting pass:
Pause the laser by pressing the Start button on the keypad after the engraving pass is complete, thenrefocus the laser using the appropriate focus gauge for cutting, close the lid and press Start on the keypadagain. The downside is that you will have to have quick reflexes to pause the laser the instant it getsdone with the engraving pass.
You can change the cutting layer to ‘ No Output ‘ which will skip the cut layer so only the engraving layeris processed. Download the program to the laser, run the program to perform the engraving. Then youcan refocus the laser for cutting and set the engraving layer to ‘ No Output ‘ so it will only perform thecutting operation. Re-download the program to the laser and it will then only perform the cuttingoperation. To set a layer to ‘ No Output ‘ double click on the layer in the layer panel to open the ‘ LayerParameters ‘ panel and select ‘ No ‘ from the Output drop down menu as shown below.
Lower Quality: By using a focusing lens that is not optimal you will lose a little engraving quality in veryfine details as the laser spot size will increase and you will have a reduced edge quality and morepronounced edge taper. Please note that depending on the engraving and the thickness of the materialbeing cut, the reduction in quality may not be noticeable but you may have to increase Power in order toget the same engraving depth or to cut through the material. This may require you to play around withsettings to get the optimal engraving/cut quality and to ensure the material is cut through all the way.
Select the focus gauge that is ½ the normal amount ie if your material is ¼” thick you will select the 1/8”focus gauge. Run the program as normal with both layers output in the correct sequence.
This method saves time, especially if you are processing a lot of jobs, at the expense of quality.
You should now be able to do basic cutting and engraving operations.
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APPLICATION SPECIFIC
Adobe Illustrator for Vector FilesSaving Files
When saving a drawing it will NOT IMPORT correctly into the VLaserCut software unless yousave the file as an Illustrator Version 8 format .AI file. This will import the curves, lines and pathsthat can be cut and engraved on the laser and ignore the unusable data.
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Combining Shapes In Adobe Illustrator
The laser interprets ALL lines as cutting lines even if Illustrator doesn’t show them. It is commonpractice for illustrators to overlap objects in order to partially obscure other objects and display them in a‘preview’ format. For example if you were to draw a setting sun with a mountain range in front of it,many people would draw the sun as a circle and just place the mountain drawing on top of the sun, thuspartially obscuring it. If this file were sent to the laser the ENTIRE circle for the sun would be cut. Eventhough the line cannot be seen behind the mountains it is still there.
To view what your drawing looks like to the laser, go the View menu in Illustrator and click Outline. Theoutline view is what will be cut by the laser.
NORMAL ILLUSTRATOR VIEW OUTLINE VIEW
OF TWO OVERLAPPING STARS OF TWO OVERLAPPING STARS
To combine the two separate objects into one shape so they cut as intended follow these steps:
Place all the objects you want to combine on the same layer.
Select all the objects you want to combine.
Go to the ‘ Object Menu ‘ and select ‘ Group ‘.
Go to the ‘ Effect Menu ‘ and Select ‘ Pathfinder->Add ‘.
Go back to the Object Menu and select Expand Appearance.
They will now look like the image to the right and are ready to cut:
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Adobe Photoshop for Raster FilesThe VLaserCut software can import BMP, JPG and GIF raster images. For maximum quality you
must save your graphics as BMP images which are not compressed. You can import grayscale images andthe software will automatically convert the grayscale image to a 1-bit black and white image forengraving. For maximum control, however you will want to convert the image yourself.
The laser software reads all raster graphics at 1000 DPI. If you import a 2000x2000 pixel image it willshow up as 2” x 2” or 50.4mm x 50.4mm in the laser software. It is best to save the raster files youcreate scaled properly and set to 1000 DPI.
Saving 1-Bit 1000 DPI BMP Images
Editing the image to be high contrast with Levels/Curves and other editing to suit your liking beforeconverting it to a 1-Bit image will create the highest quality results.
Once your image is ready open go to the Image Menu and select Image Size
Change the Resolution box to 1000 Pixels/Inch.
Change the Width and Height Box to the dimensions that you want the engraving to be and click OK.
Once Photoshop is done calculating, (which may take some time depending on computer speed and size ofthe image) go to the ‘ Image Menu ‘ and select ‘ Mode->Bitmap ‘ (if Bitmap is grayed out, you must firstmake the image Grayscale and then repeat to make it a Bitmap). A dialog box will open as below. Ensurethat the Output reads 1000 Pixels/Inch and set the method to 50% Threshold for maximum crispness ofthe engraving and click OK.
Save the image as a .BMP and the image will be ready for the highest quality engraving.
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Inkscape for Vector FilesIf you have overlapping shapes that need to be merged, select them then go to the ‘ Path Menu ‘
then select ‘ Combine ‘. This groups all the objects together. Once they are grouped go to the ‘ PathMenu ‘ again and select ‘ Union ‘. Save the image as DXF (Desktop Cutting Plotter (AutoCAD DXF R14))and it will be ready to go.
GIMP for Raster FilesAs with Photoshop, editing the image to be high contrast with Levels/Curves and other editing tosuit your liking before converting it to a 1-Bit image will create the highest quality results.
If needed you can go to the ‘ Colors Menu ‘ and select the ‘ Threshold ‘ plugin and adjust to thedesired output for quick results.
Go to the ‘ Image Menu ‘ and select ‘ Mode->Indexed ‘ and select Use black and white (1-bit)palette as below:
Save as Windows BMP (.bmp)
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Corel for Vector FilesIf you have overlapping shapes that need to be merged, select them and then press the Weldbutton in the Properties palette as shown below.
Save as a DXF with the following settings:
AutoCAD for Vector FilesSave image as DXF R14 for maximum compatibility.
SolidWorks for Vector FilesSave image as DXF. Make sure after DXF preview that you click the green check mark to save thefile.
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Sketchup for Vector FilesExport -> 2D Graphic ->AutoCAD DXF File
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REFERENCE
Hovering over an icon will display its name and an explanation of its function in the lower leftcorner of the screen in the message field.
Layer PanelSetup Tab
The layer panel shows what layers are currently in use as well as what speed and power level are selectedfor the layer. All the settings on the layer panel can be changed by double clicking on a layer to bring upLaser Parameters.
Layer Column: Shows Color of Layer
Mode: Shows Type of Laser Operation
Speed: Shows Speed of Layer
Power: Shows Power of Layer as a Percentage of Total Power
Output: Shows This Layer Will be Output to Laser
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Double click the layer to bring up the Laser Parameters window.
CUT MODE:
Output: Will this layer be used when program is downloaded to laser?
Speed: Speed of cutting.
Air Assist: DO NOT MODIFY unless instructed by Voccell Support
Mode: Changes the type of layer.
Min Power: Cutting minimum power.
Max Power: Cutting maximum power.
Seal: BETA Advanced Feature
Open Delay: Fires the laser before beginning a cutting operation
Close Delay: Continues firing the laser after the end of a cutting operation
Dot Mode: BETA Advanced Feature
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ENGRAVE MODE:
Output: Will this layer be used when program is downloaded to laser?
Speed: Speed of cutting.
Air Assist: DO NOT MODIFY unless instructed by Voccell Support
Mode: Changes the type of layer.
Min Power: Cutting minimum power. Max
Power: Cutting maximum power.
Independent Output: BETA Advanced Feature
Ramp Effect: BETA Advanced Feature
Overstrike: BETA Advanced Feature
Scan Mode: BETA Advanced Feature Leave on X_Swing
Scan Gap: Specifies the amount of movement of the Y axis every back and forth pass of theX axis during engraving operations.
DOT MODE: BETA Advanced Feature
PEN MODE: BETA Advanced Feature
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Output Tab
NOT USED AT PRESENT. Allows for future rotary attachment settings adjustment.
Doc Tab
Displays the currently store files and their elapsed time to complete.
User Tab
DO NOT MODIFY unless instructed by Voccell Support.
Test Tab
Current Position: Reads current position from laser head.
Y+, Y-, X+, X- : Move laser head in the indicated direction
Home: Homes the laser to the mechanical origin
Offset: The distance of each move.
Speed: the speed of each move
Power: The power used when test firing the laser
Move from Origin: Moves the laser head away from the Origin
Fire: Test fires the laser. The lid of the laser must be closed to operate.
Previous work time: Elapsed time of last completed job.
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Transform Tab
Select graphic before panel becomes active. You must click apply to enact transforms.
Move: Move object to specified position.
Rotate: Rotate object by specified angle around specified center
Mirror: Mirror object along specified center and scale at specified percentage.
Scale: Scale object to the specified size.
Skew: Skew object the specified amount of degrees along the specified axis.
Connection Panel
Start: Start the program after downloading to the laser.
Pause/Continue: Pause or Continue during the program.
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Stop: Stop the program.
Save to UFile: Saves the program to be used offline, via the USB input on the laser.
UfileOutput: Select the Ufile to be processed
Download: Follow prompts to download program to the laser.
Go Scale: Moves the laser head around the maximum extents of the graphics.
Cut Scale: Cuts along the maximum extents of the graphics.
USB Auto: Connects to the laser automatically via USB.
Position
Current Position: Move laser head back to current position after the program is complete
Original Anchor: Move laser to V Home position specified by Origin button on the keypadafter the program is complete.
Mechanical Zero: Move laser to the mechanical origin after the program is complete.
Transform Panel
X: Location of the center of the selected graphics along the X axis.
Y: Location of the center of the selected graphics along the Y axis
Left/Right Arrows: Width of the object.
Up/Down Arrows: Height of the obecjt.
Percentages: Scale object along X or Y axis the amount specified.
Lock: Lock object to prevent modification
Position: Select the Position Reference location
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Menu->FileNew: Create a new document.
Open: Open a saved document. The native file format is .RLD.
Save: Save the current document.
Save As: Save the current document with a new name.
Import: Import graphics onto the work table.
Export: Export graphics to other non-native file formats.
Manufacturer Settings: Voccell Laser Settings. Do not Modify.
Recent File: Open a recently saved file.
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Menu->EditUndo: Undoes the previous operation:
Redo: Redoes the previous Undo.
Cut: Cuts the selected graphics to the clipboard. Copy:
Copies the selected graphics to the clipboard. Paste:
Pastes the selected graphics from the clipboard.
Delete: Deletes the selected graphics.
Move: Moves the selected graphics.
Zoom Out: Zooms the view out (Mouse Wheel)
Zoom In: Zooms the view in (Mouse Wheel)
Zoom: Click and drag to zoom to the highlighted area.
Zoom to Table: Zooms to the edge of the table.
Zoom to Selection: Zooms to the extents of the selected graphics.
View All: Zooms to the extents of everything visible.
Preview: Opens simulation window to view how the laser performs its operations and in what order.
Show Path: Turn on or Off. Shows the direction of the laser path during operation.
Edit Cut Properties: BETA Advanced Feature
Set Cut Properties: Allows the bulk change of the cut order on a per object basis.
Set Cut Point: BETA Advanced Feature
Set Cut Direction: BETA Advanced Feature
Select All: Selects all graphics.
Group: Groups selected graphics so they can be moved together.
Ungroup: Ungroups selected objects.
Edit Curves (ALPHA FEATURE)
Add Nodes
Delete Nodes
Combine Nodes
Break Curve
Line to Curve
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Curve to Line
LGP Design: BETA Advanced Feature for designing Light Guide Panels used in sign making.
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Menu->DrawSelect: Reverts to selection tool.
Edit Node: Turn on or Off to allow the editing of individual nodes of a vector graphic.
Line: Draw a line. Hold CTRL to draw a straight line.
Polygon: Draw a Polygon. Hold CTRL to draw a straight line.
Curve: Draw a Bezier curve. Click to start curve then click and hold mouse button drag out curve.
Rectangle: Draw a rectangle. Hold CTRL to make a square.
Ellipse: Draw an ellipse. Hold CTRL to make a circle.
Text:
Truetype font: Select Font
SHX font: Select Font
Width: Scale text width by the amount specified.
Char space: Space between characters.
Line space: Space between lines of text.
Enable variable text: BETA Advanced Feature.
Point: Draws a point.
Capture: BETA Advanced Feature.
Horizontal Mirror: Mirror the selected graphics horizontally.
Vertical Mirror: Mirror the selected graphics vertically.
Center Object: Centers selected graphics to the work table.
Array:
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XNum: Number of Copies in the X direction.
YNum: Number of Copies in the Y direction.
Spacing: Amount of space between copies.
??... : How many copies will fit inside the specified size of material.
Arrange (Two or more graphics must be selected):
Align Left: Align graphics to the left edge.
Align Right: Align graphics to the right edge.
Align Top: Align graphics to the top edge.
Align Bottom: Align graphics to the bottom edge.
Align Vertical Center: Align graphics along the vertical centerline.
Align Horizontal Center: Align graphics along the horizontal centerline.
Align Table Center: Align graphics to the table center
Align Space Horizontal: Objects are placed at a horizontally equidistant point.
Align Space Vertical: Objects are placed at a vertical equidistant point.
Resize Height: Resizes selected objects to match width.
Resize Width: Resizes selected objects to match height.
Resize H/W: Resizes selected objects in both width and height.
Top Left: Moves objects to the upper left corner of the table.
Top Right: Moves objects to the upper right corner of the table.
Bottom Right: Moves objects to the lower right corner of the table.
Bottom Left: Moves objects to the lower left corner of the table.
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Menu->ConfigSystem Settings:
Axis X Mirror: DO NOT MODIFY unless instructed by Voccell support.
Axis Y Mirror: DO NOT MODIFY unless instructed by Voccell support.
Laser Head: DO NOT MODIFY unless instructed by Voccell support.
Absolute Coordinates: Turns on Absolute Coordinates
Small Circle Speed Max: DO NOT MODIFY unless instructed by Voccell support.
Scanning: DO NOT MODIFY unless instructed by Voccell support.
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File Parameters:
PLT Precision: Specifies the import precision for PLT files.
DXF Unit: Set to units used to generate DXF file or scaling errors will occur.
Import DXF Text Info: Imports DXF text. Uncheck to ignore DXF text.
Auto Close Curves: Close curves within the amount specified in Close Tolerance
Combine Lines: Combine lines within the amount specified in Combine Tolerance
Export Precision: Precision of exported graphics
Velocity Unit: DO NOT MODIFY unless instructed by Voccell support.
Table Settings
This dialog sets up the basic look of the virtual work table. Please confirm the Table Widthand Table Height are correct.
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Table Width: Sets the width of the work table. DLS owners should have 600 entered here.
Table Height: Sets the height of the work table. DLS owners should have 400 entered here.
Grid: Enables the grid on the virtual work table.
GridSpace: The spacing of the grid in millimeters.
used.Adjust Distance: The amount the selected graphics are moved when the arrow keys are
Adjust Multiplier: Multiplies the Adjust Distance when shift key is held down.
used.Adjust Angle: The amount of the selected graphics are rotated when the arrow keys are
Background: The background color.
Work Area: The work table color.
Grid: The grid color.
Password Settings
DO NOT MODIFY unless instructed by Voccell support.
Show Hatching
Show Array
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Menu->ProcessAuto Close Curve: Closes open curves within the amount specified by the Close Tolerance.
Force Close: Forces the curve to close.
Bitmap Edit: BETA Advanced Feature
Smooth Curves: Smooth curves the amount specified.
Cut Path Optimization: BETA Advanced Feature
Combine Curve: Combines curves within the amount specified by the Combine Tolerance.
Delete Overlap: Deletes overlapping lines within the amount specified by the Overlap Tolerance.
Offset Polygon: Redraws selected graphics offset from the original.
Offset: The amount in millimeters to offset the original graphics.
Delete Artwork: Delete Original
Inward: Direction of Offset
Outward: Direction of Offset
Both: Offset both inward and outward.
Data Check:
Check Closed: Checks to see if the shape is closed.
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Auto Close: See Above
Check Self-Intersect: Checks to see if the shape is self-intersecting.
Check Intersect: Checks to see if more than one shape is intersecting.
Check Overlap: Checks to see if lines are overlapping.
Hatch Graphics: BETA ADVANCED FEATURE
Menu->ViewTurns on and off the various menu bars in the work area.
Menu->HelpAbout CNC Laser: Displays contact information.
Language: Select the appropriate language.
Material SettingsThe material settings contained in this chart are a ballpark estimate to get you started. There are
many factors that impact cutting and engraving speeds and power settings, including the expected cutedge/engraving quality. The same material from different manufacturers may cut very differently. Thebest practice is to perform sample cuts or engravings in scrap pieces of materials.
Woods in particular vary considerably from species to species and in the event of engineered products likeplywood, the glue that binds the layers together makes a remarkable difference. Always buy interiorgrade engineered products if possible as the PVA based glues that are typically used allow for much betteredge quality.
Material Mode Power SpeedScanGap Thickness Notes
Acrylic Engrave 50 400 0.05 AnyCast acrylic will engrave white. Extrudedwill engrave integral color.
Wood Engrave 50 400 0.05 AnyDepth of engraving will depend on woodspecies.
Glass Engrave 35 400 0.05 AnyMultiple passes may create higher qualityengraving.
Granite Engrave 50 400 0.1 AnySeal the engraved areas to preventdiscoloration from oils.
Mirror (Back) Engrave 65 400 0.1 AnyToo much heat will cause distortion in themirror backing.
Leather Engrave 50 400 0.1 Any Slower speeds will darken engraved areaAnodizedAluminum Engrave 35 400 0.1 AnyPowder Coat Engrave 35 400 0.1 Any
Cermark Engrave 50 400 0.1 Any
Do test engravings to determine optimalpower level for the exact material you areusing. Some metals are better conductorsof heat than others which can damage thecoating.
Balsa Wood Cut 60 30 N/A 1/8 Turn down power to increase cut quality.
Birch Wood Cut 75 10 N/A 1/4Cutting as fast as possible will make thelightest colored edge.
Birch Plywood Cut 75 5 N/A 1/4Cutting as fast as possible will make thelightest colored edge.
Acrylic Cut 75 5 N/A 1/4
This setting is for a polished looking edge.You can cut faster if a frosted looking edgeis OK.
Mirror Acrylic Cut 70 10 N/A 1/8If mirror backing bubbles or distorts turndown power.
Leather Cut 75 10 N/A 1/8
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